This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
In modern military munitions that employ an initiator assembly having an exploding foil initiator that is configured to initiate detonation of an input charge that is formed of a high explosive material, it can be desirable to have high-speed feedback in the form of an electronic signal that confirms that the exploding foil initiator had successfully initiated detonation of the input charge. This feedback may be employed, for example, to control the operation of other devices, including other exploding foil initiators. These other devices could be employed to selectively operate a redundant actuator and/or to perform functions such as shaping a detonation wavefront as it travels through a primary charge of high explosive in the munition.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,485,097 discloses an initiator assembly having an exploding foil initiator and a normally open grounding switch. The grounding switch employs energy from a detonating input charge to close the grounding switch, which operates to connect a terminal of the exploding foil initiator to an electrical ground to dissipate excess energy that was applied to the exploding foil initiator. While the grounding switch of the '097 patent works satisfactorily for its intended purpose, it is not capable of closing after the onset of detonation in the input charge as quickly as is desired. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for an initiator assembly having an exploding foil initiator and a detonation detection switch that is more responsive to the initiation of detonation in an input charge.